Advice on finding a CPA?

aak · Apr 23, 2012

How should I go about finding a CPA?

I live in Pennsylvania. In 2011, I made 70k trading futures and lost 5k trading various stock positions that were fully closed on 1/9/2012. Before I add in my stock transactions, I owe 5k in federal taxes and 2k in state taxes. Once I add in my stock transactions, due to the wash sale rule, TurboTax shows 150k of taxable income and 25k taxes due on my Federal return and a -450k loss on my Pennsylvania return with no taxes due. Truly a bizarre scenario.

Am I going to be hit with a large gain on my PA 2012 return that will not be offset by my 2011 loss? PA doesn't have a wash sale rule and does not allow you to carry over losses.

Will I get the "extra" 20K in federal taxes I paid back when I file my 2012 return early next year?

As most of my stock transactions were Commodity ETFs, are they possibly exempt from the wash sale rule or require other special tax treatment?

Since my stock positions were not fully closed until 1/9/2012, how can TurboTax correctly calculate whether my December stock transactions are subject to the wash sale rule given only my 2011 trading history .txf from Interactive Brokers?

I'm pretty sure I need professional help to sort this all out but I'm not sure where to start looking. Finding a CPA who is familiar with 1256 contracts is hard already, finding someone who is also an expert in the wash sale rule and PA capital gains seems remote. TurboTax has told me my situation is beyond their scope. I looked around aicpa.org for awhile but only came away with contacts for KPMG and PWC. Wouldn't that be overkill for an individual investor? Is there a better way to find someone to handle my situation?

zxd · Apr 25, 2012

message me

BSAM · Apr 25, 2012

So sad.
You'd think these type stories would be coming out of North Korea; not the USA.

AAAintheBeltway · Apr 26, 2012

There are several threads under the Retail Firms forum dealing with this issue. There are many posts there by an accountant whose firm specializes in this area. I have never used him and therefore cannot make a rec, but he is undoubtedly extremely knowledgeable.

Free Thinker · Apr 26, 2012

Quote from aak:

How should I go about finding a CPA?

I live in Pennsylvania. In 2011, I made 70k trading futures and lost 5k trading various stock positions that were fully closed on 1/9/2012. Before I add in my stock transactions, I owe 5k in federal taxes and 2k in state taxes. Once I add in my stock transactions, due to the wash sale rule, TurboTax shows 150k of taxable income and 25k taxes due on my Federal return and a -450k loss on my Pennsylvania return with no taxes due. Truly a bizarre scenario.

Am I going to be hit with a large gain on my PA 2012 return that will not be offset by my 2011 loss? PA doesn't have a wash sale rule and does not allow you to carry over losses.

Will I get the "extra" 20K in federal taxes I paid back when I file my 2012 return early next year?

As most of my stock transactions were Commodity ETFs, are they possibly exempt from the wash sale rule or require other special tax treatment?

Since my stock positions were not fully closed until 1/9/2012, how can TurboTax correctly calculate whether my December stock transactions are subject to the wash sale rule given only my 2011 trading history .txf from Interactive Brokers?

I'm pretty sure I need professional help to sort this all out but I'm not sure where to start looking. Finding a CPA who is familiar with 1256 contracts is hard already, finding someone who is also an expert in the wash sale rule and PA capital gains seems remote. TurboTax has told me my situation is beyond their scope. I looked around aicpa.org for awhile but only came away with contacts for KPMG and PWC. Wouldn't that be overkill for an individual investor? Is there a better way to find someone to handle my situation?
More...

http://www.greencompany.com/

TheGoonior · Apr 26, 2012

You may also want to check out Trade-Log for help in generation of your tax returns.

zxd · May 4, 2012

http://www.ZandiCPA.com

Specializing in Expat and Trader taxes
The guy is a trader himself so it's not foreign to him